Listening Beyond the Headlines: Young Children in Crisis Deserve More Than Our Sympathy

What does childhood look like when home is a refugee camp and tomorrow is never certain? For millions of young children in crisis settings, playtime is replaced by survival, and dreams compete with displacement. On December 1st, the Center for Universal Education at Brookings asked a bold question: How do we protect childhood when the world around it is collapsing? With less than 4% of humanitarian aid reaching these children, the conversation was urgent, and deeply human.

The conversation started where it should: with young people who’ve lived through this reality.

Ata Allah, who fled Myanmar and now lives in Cox’s Bazaar refugee camp in Bangladesh, and Nhial Deng, who grew up in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, spoke to the instability that defines childhood in displacement, uncertain routines, disrupted family life, and limited access to quality education. They also shared ways they are working to transform hardship into purpose, championing quality education, digital literacy, and humanitarian systems change so the next generation has more than survival to look forward to.

Their message was clear: children growing up in crisis face constant uncertainty and structural barriers, but they also carry ambition, ideas, and agency. Listening is not optional; it’s foundational.

What We Heard: Reality Check and Resolve

Experts and practitioners reflected on where the humanitarian system stands today, and where it must go next. Speakers included:

• Sweta Shah, Fellow at Brookings’ Center for Universal Education
• Lucy Bassett, Professor of Practice and co-Director of the Humanitarian Collaborative at the University of Virginia
• Katie Murphy, Interim Director, Moving Minds Alliance
• Catherine Kirk, Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues

Three difficult truths emerged:

• A decimated infrastructure and loss of expertise. Years of shocks have weakened the capacity to serve young children at scale.
• “Chaos upon chaos.” Crisis settings are already complex; additional disruption compounds risk for young children.
• A moral and practical imperative.“We must use this moment to do better, work together, and learn together,” because the future of children is being robbed if we don’t.

Reimagining the System: Build With, Not For

Reform isn’t about starting from scratch; it’s about learning from what works and building with communities. We should “learn from where we’ve come and build on that” (e.g., lessons on coordinating across government agencies and having communities lead).

Coordination and community leadership are not add-ons, they’re the backbone of lasting change.

Why Listening Matters

When we listen, we should really listen to children of all ages, parents, caregivers, youth leaders, and local organizations. Only then can support become responsive and resilient. This is how we move from short-term fixes to long-term systems that protect early childhood development in crisis settings.

It’s also how we avoid repeating mistakes. Parachuting solutions that don’t fit, missing cultural context, and overlooking the daily realities of displacement. As one participant noted, “We will only be brighter if we find ways to collaborate, and to support and scale systems.”

You can watch a recording of the event here.

To learn how to actively engage young children in crisis, see these case studies from the Brookings Institution titled “Centering child voices in humanitarian contexts case study series“.

By: Lucy Bassett, Lola Ayanda and Sweta Shah